Thursday, 19 May 2016

The middle-aged booze 'epidemic'

The Daily Mail claimed that 'Half of middle-aged British men classed as problem drinkers' over the weekend. I've written an article for the Spectator explaining why this is piffle.

It turns out to be based on a survey of just 476 people. The
assertion that ‘more than half of those surveyed believe it will have no
impact on their health’ is based on an even smaller number: just 160
people.

To put those 476 people into context, there are more than eight
million men aged between 45 and 64 in the UK. Claiming that ‘Half of
middle-aged British men classed as problem drinkers’ (the Daily Mail) and ‘Half of middle-aged men drink too much’ (the Telegraph) on the basis of such a small sample is a stretch, to say the least.

Fortunately, we have official statistics with a much larger sample from the Health Survey for England.
Those figures show that men aged 45 to 64 drink an average of 18 units a
week — not the 37 units claimed by Drinkaware. It also found that six
per cent of men aged 45 to 64 drink more than 50 units a week — not the
10 per cent claimed by Drinkaware.

About Me

Writer and researcher at the Institute of Economic Affairs. Blogging in a personal capacity.
Author of Selfishness, Greed and Capitalism (2015), The Art of Suppression (2011), The Spirit Level Delusion (2010) and Velvet Glove, Iron Fist (2009).

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."